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History repeating itself

10,000 Birds

If studying insects would lead you to suppose that God had an “an inordinate fondness for beetles&# , studying the pre-human avifauna of the Pacific would lead you to conclude that God was also quite partial to rails. I certainly did when I visited the two southern islands of Tonga a few years ago. But here’s the thing.

Tonga 165
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The complete guide to Dodo relatives, living and dead

10,000 Birds

In fact, the Dodo belonged to a clade (sometimes called Raphini) of 15 remarkable, bizarre, intriguing island-adapted pigeons, some of which are still alive today, but eight of which have been hacked from the tree of life, driven to extinction by humans. placopedetes occurred since the arrival of people and presumably was due to human impact.”